Author Archives: Ali Reza Hayati

About Ali Reza Hayati

Hacker, cypherpunk, and user freedom activist.

Discord breach and our personal data

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One of Discord’s third-party service providers was breached, exposing people’s personal information including parts of credit card numbers, driver’s license, and passports.

It’s kinda funny, isn’t it? Who could’ve imagined the same people who wanted to collect our personal information for “safety” and “trust” end up violating our safety and trust? Well, us. Us privacy advocates shouted about this from the very beginning of it yet nobody listened. Nobody stopped it.

This didn’t have to happen. People’s personal information should’ve never been collected or uploaded anywhere in the first place. Privacy isn’t a feature, it’s not a luxury, it’s a fundamental human right. It’s a prerequisite of freedom and civilization. Once our privacy is gone, freedom follows, and everything else will collapse just like a dominoes.

I wasn’t affected by this because I’m careful to only use privacy-respecting free (as in freedom) sites, programs, and services. I deeply care about my rights, specially when it comes to privacy and freedom.

It’s time to stop using anything that demands our personal information. It isn’t about some “terms” you “agree” with, it’s about what they take away from you, and how they violate your basic rights.

Whether they claim it’s for children’s safety or to verify if we’re human enough for them, we must stop this madness. They still collect our personal data and it’s still a violation of our rights. It’s not normal, never has been, never will be, and we have to put an end to it.


I won’t stop defending our rights. You can join me by deleting your accounts on platforms that don’t respect you and your freedom enough. You could stop using dis-services that treat your freedom and privacy like a joke and switch to services that actually value your freedom. There are countless alternatives that do what you need without demanding your firstborn in return.

You can make a difference, and there are many people and communities that will help you go through your privacy journey. Privacy Guides’ Forum is one of them. I’m also open to anyone who needs help, and I’ll do whatever I can to help.

Do it for yourself, and for all of us.

Nothing is right

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I’ve been feeling a lot of pressure lately, both in my personal life and at work. Nothing feels right anymore. It seems like everything is off balance.

It’s not just me. The situation in the country keeps getting worse. The economy is declining quickly, the political news is always negative, and there’s a constant tension in the air. Every day, there are more rumors about war starting again. It’s exhausting.

We’re losing hope bit by bit, and the future feels unclear and uncertain. There’s no guarantee of a safe future right now. I hardly get any sleep at night. The only thing that keeps me going is knowing I’m surrounded by the people I love.

Sometimes I feel jealous. I see my friends overseas talking about starting new jobs, attending seminars, or taking trips to cities they love. Their biggest worry is choosing between good options or pursuing their passions. I’m genuinely happy for them, but deep down, I can’t help but think this should have been our life here too.

I tell my friends here that everything will be fine, that the future is bright and we’ll get through these tough times. But even I have doubts. I’m not sure about anything, but I try to stay calm, be kind, and keep hoping and working for a better future.

I really do my best. I want to make things right. I want to contribute to projects that matter to me, be active in the communities I love, be productive, help others, and share what I can. But what can I do when I’m feeling desperate myself? It can be terrifying at times.

Just to be clear, I’m not looking for anyone’s pity. I’ve written and deleted this post many times, but I need to get things off my chest. I remembered why I kept this blog up and running: to write what I can’t say out loud. I apologize if this caught you off guard, and I’m sorry if you’ve been a victim of my poor social skills.

Funny cat meme showing a close-up of a wide-eyed orange cat with text that says, “I apologise to everyone who has been a victim of my poor social skills,” humorously expressing social awkwardness.

Carrying the weight and passing challenges

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This past week has been one of the busiest I’ve had in a long time. Things changed suddenly at work and I had to take on extra responsibilities. It wasn’t part of the plan, but when someone on the team has to step away, you do what’s needed.

The truth is, it wasn’t easy. There were ups and downs every day. Some moments I felt completely drained, wondering how to keep up with everything. Other times, I felt proud of figuring things out and keeping things moving. These situations really test your patience and your ability to stay focused when everything seems to be happening at once.

On top of the extra workload, I also had to support a co-worker who was going through a difficult time. It wasn’t just about covering his tasks—it was about being there for him, guiding him through some things, and making sure he didn’t feel alone in all of this. That part mattered as much as the work itself.

There was also a moment where things got heated in a discussion, and I had to step in to bring some balance and calm the situation down. It reminded me how important it is to keep the team together, especially when stress levels are high. Sometimes, the real challenge isn’t just finishing the work—it’s keeping people grounded and working together.

One thing I noticed is how much we can adapt when we have no choice. At first, it feels impossible, but then you start to find a rhythm. You learn new things, take on tasks you’ve never done before, and somehow manage to make it work. I think that’s one of the hidden benefits of challenges—they force you to grow in ways you wouldn’t if everything stayed comfortable.

Next week is going to be the same, so the marathon isn’t over yet. It’s going to be tough, and I know I’ll be tired, but I’m trying to see it as an opportunity. These moments can either break you or make you better. I’d rather take the second option. If nothing else, this whole experience is teaching me that I can handle more than I thought I could. And that’s something valuable to take forward.

In the end, it’s about perspective. Work will always have its hard days, but if we can use them to learn, they’re not wasted. That’s what I’m holding on to right now.

Respect your elders

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I’ve probably talked about this before, but it’s something I keep coming back to. When I was younger, I thought age was just a number. I figured I knew more and understood things better than a lot of older people. Turns out, I was wrong.

Now, even though I’m still pretty young, I get that older folks have a ton more experience than I do. They’ve been through things I haven’t, and they’ve learned stuff that I just can’t pick up without living more of life myself.

I used to think respect had to be earned, but now I feel like everyone deserves respect by default—unless they give me a reason not to.

Especially when it comes to my elders, I really should show respect. They most probably have wisdom and life lessons that I don’t, and even if they aren’t always perfect, I want to approach them with respect because there’s a lot I can learn from their experiences. Their choices come from real-life stuff, and listening to that can really help me out.

Back online

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It’s been weeks and I’m finally back online. Been a weird experience being this much offline but I’m finally here. Too much to catch up. Thanks a lot to any and all of you who messaged me. I’m truly grateful for your companionship.

Cheers.

Help people bypass censorship: Run Snowflake

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Snowflake is a tool designed to help people bypass Internet censorship. It works by connecting users in heavily censored regions to the open Internet through volunteers who run Snowflake on their devices—either as a browser extension or a standalone proxy. If you’re in a country where Tor is accessible, you can run Snowflake and act as a bridge for those who can’t access the Internet freely.

I’ve been trying to publish this post for two days. That’s how severe the current Internet blackout and censorship is here, given the current situation with war. Tools like Snowflake are often the only way people like me can connect to the outside world and access uncensored information, or contact their loved ones.

The easiest way to help is by installing the Snowflake browser extension. Once it’s enabled, you’ll see a green icon when someone connects through your relay. It’s simple, safe, and takes less than 3 minutes to set up—but it can make a world of difference.

By donating a small portion of your bandwidth, you help others communicate with loved ones, access crucial information, and stay connected—especially during crises like the one currently in the Middle East.

Start now: snowflake.torproject.org

Please spread the word. Every person counts.

The war

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It’s now the eighth day of the direct war between Iran and Israel. For nearly five days, we’ve been living under a complete internet blackout. Today, a few VPNs have started working again, giving us limited access to the outside world and letting us reconnect with family and friends abroad.

My email is still unreachable, so if you’ve tried to contact me recently, I apologize for not responding. I’m safe, and so is my family — something we’re grateful for.

To those of you who reached out in the early days: thank you. Your messages, your care, and your words meant a great deal. I’ve read them while I’ve been able to, and they’ve reminded me how lucky I am to have such awesome people in my life.

Thanks a lot and best of luck.

Free software is needed for security

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Micah Lee has been working on recent controversies around TeleMessage. If you’re not familiar with the topic, here’s a small backstory:

Some time ago, Mike Waltz and several senior U.S. government officials were caught discussing military plans on the messaging app Signal, after someone mistakenly added Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to the conversation. Later, Waltz was seen using TM SGNL—a clone of Signal developed by TeleMessage—that includes features like cloud message archiving.

Micah recently created a program called TeleMessage Explorer, designed to simplify the investigation of TeleMessage dataset (provided by him and available to journalists and researchers) and published it under GNU AGPL v3, a free (as in freedom) license. It made me think about the importance of software freedom to achieve security and privacy. And it certainly made me appreciate Micah’s program more, as it didn’t refuse me my digital rights.

The license ensures users can run, study, modify, and share the program, as they wish. It ensures people own their copy of the program, rather than giving power to the developers to control what users can do.

Continue reading →

AI and software freedom

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I’ve been using generative transformers (so-called AI, such as ChatGPT) for some time now, and I’ve found them to be pretty useful. Whether I need a brief summary of an article or a quick one-sentence explanation of a blog post, they deliver it as I wish.

If I need a guide on setting up a secure system for managing my SSH keys, I can get a detailed step-by-step process. Or if I want help creating a cartoonish avatar for a friend’s daughter, that’s done in few seconds. They are doing an impressive job, and I genuinely appreciate the technology behind them.

However, I do have some concerns. Above all, I value my privacy. I don’t want any corporation creeping on my private conversations, nor do I want them tracking what and when I think about certain stuff. The size or structure of the corporation doesn’t matter to me—it’s my personal information, and I want control over it. That’s why I avoid sharing any sensitive data with these services. And if I do, I try my best to anonymize it.

The ChatGPT app from OpenAI states that when you delete a chat, it will be removed from their servers within a month. If they stick to this promise, they’re doing more than many other companies. Still, it doesn’t go far enough.

Real privacy and security are comes with free (as in freedom) software. Free software gives me the ability to modify and control the program, ensuring it works exactly how I want it to, not how a corporation dictates.

With free software, I have the power to take control of my computer. If the program compromises my personal data or violates my rights (online or offline) I can stop it. I’ll be the one in control.

Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found an so-called AI tool that is both free (as in freedom) and provides an openly accessible language model for public use. But I’m hopeful that this will change. As the free software community continues to grow (as it always has), I’m confident we’ll soon see generative transformers that respect freedom and privacy.